Caribbean Storm Fiona was forecast to intensify into a hurricane as it got closer to Puerto Rico on Saturday, and it threatened to drop up to 20 inches (51 centimetres) of rain as islanders prepared for the possibility of landslides, serious floods, and power shortages.
One fatality has been confirmed in the French territory of Guadeloupe, where the hurricane has already battered many eastern Caribbean islands. The corpse was discovered on the side of the road when a house in Basse-capital Terre's washed away, according to regional prefect Alexandre Rochatte.
Officials warned that the island's already-saturated soil made the predicted heavy rains perilous. Since the restoration of the island's electrical grid, which was destroyed by Hurricane Maria in 2017, has just recently started, many Puerto Ricans were concerned about prolonged power disruptions. The grid is still unstable, and there are frequent power outages, with 37,000 consumers already without electricity as of Saturday.